Vehicle manufacturers outfit their vehicles with an increasing number of wireless communications capabilities. Telematics units installed in modern vehicles can wirelessly communicate both voice and data communications between the vehicle and a variety of recipients, such as a central facility, over a wireless carrier network. The telematics unit can wirelessly communicate over short-range wireless channels, as well. Besides their communication capabilities, telematics units can receive various types of input, such as requests from vehicle occupants, and output can be generated in response to that input. At the same time, many vehicle owners may also carry smart phones that can also communicate using short-range wireless channels.